October 21st, St. Petersburg Stadium.

  In the seventh minute of the game, Zenit St. Petersburg took advantage of a er kick to create chaos in Napoli's penalty area.

  Midfielder Roman Shirokov tched onto a clearance by Napoli, heading the ball bato the crowded box, increasing the danger in front of Napoli's goal.

  Amid the fusion, 31-year-old striker Fatih Tekke reacted fastest, slotting the ball into the .

  Handanoviapoli's goalkeeper, was left rooted to the spot, uo rea time.

  The Slovenian had been battling a high fever since arriving in St. Petersburg the night before, a result of the unfamiliar climate and water.

  1-0! The home team, Zenit, took the lead early.

  ---

  Gao Shen exhaled deeply, watg as a cloud of white vapor appeared in front of him, a clear sign of the bitter cold.

  ed in a thick down jacket with his hands buried deep in his pockets, he still felt the icy chill seeping into his bones.

  The cold seemed to rise from the frozen pitch, pierg through his shoes and creeping into his body from the soles of his feet.

  Unlike his usual posed presen the sidelines, Gao She pag bad forth tonight to stay warm.

  The weather in St. Petersburg was simply too harsh.

  While nighttime temperatures in Naples hovered around 20 degrees Celsius, the mercury had plunged below zero in St. Petersburg.

  Napoli had been struggling from the moment they set foot in Russia.

  The match was scheduled for Wednesday night, and Napoli's pn was to fly to St. Petersburg on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour flight would give them enough time to adjust, allowing for an evening training session to familiarize themselves with the pitch.

  After all, replig St. Petersburg's subzero ditions in southern Italy was impossible.

  Napoli had even chartered a flight to ensure a smooth trip.

  But things didn't go as pnned.

  Just before takeoff, the charter pne entered teical issues, deying the team at the airport for over four hours. The airliually scrambled to provide a rept aircraft, but by the time Napoli arrived in St. Petersburg, it was already te at night.

  The pyers had left behind a pleasant 20-degree climate and were greeted by freezing temperatures upon nding. The drastic ge took its toll, despite their preparations.

  Handanovic was the first to succumb, developing a fever shortly after arriving. The team doctor worked tirelessly through the night to stabilize him.

  Other pyers alsled to adapt, leaving many exhausted and uo sleep properly.

  For young athletes, a sleepless night might not seem like much. But by Wednesday afternoon, wheeam visited the St. Petersburg Stadium for pre-match preparations, they found the pitch ditions far from ideal. Despite the stadium's geothermal heating system, the field was still rough, adding to their disfort.

  It wasn't surprising, subzero temperatures were worlds apart from what they were used to in southern Italy.

  Despite Handanovic's fever, Gao Shen decided to field him after careful deliberation. Reserve goalkeeper Iezzo simply couldn't match his ability.

  And so, in just the seventh minute, Napoli paid the price.

  ---

  After g, Gao Shen made quick adjustments from the sidelines, signaling his pyers to adopt a more defensive approach.

  This helped stabilize the game, but trailing 1-0 meant Napoli couldn't afford to rex.

  Walking the toue, Gao Sheedly urged his pyers to remain calm and patient.

  Zenit was no pushover. They were the reigning Europa League champions, coached by the renowned Dutch tacti Dick Advocaat. Siaking over in 2006, Advocaat had transformed Zenit into a formidable side.

  The team boasted top talents like Arshavin, who had shone during the summer's European Championship, and Tymoshchuk, a future Bayern Munich star, anch the midfield.

  On top of that, Zenit was financially powerful. This summer, they had spshed €30 million to sign Puese starlet Danny from Dynamo Moscow.

  Before the match, Gao Shen had carefully designed his tactics to tai's key pyers like Arshavin, Tymoshchuk, and Danny. For the most part, Napoli executed the pn well. But unforeseen opportunities allowed Zenit's other pyers, like Shirokov and Tekke, to capitalize.

  Advocaat's 4-3-3 system was cssic Dutch football. Meanwhile, Gao Shen also deployed a banced 4-3-3 formation to ter them. Though Napoli had the upper hand in quality, the adverse ditions of the away matcluding the weather and the field—left them pying unfortably.

  Reizing the situation, Gao Shen opted to sit back, focus on defense, and wait for the right moment to strike.

  Eve, pying at home, hesitated to throw caution to the wind. They khat Gao Shen's teams excelled in terattacks. After all, Real Madrid's double-winning season under Gao Shen was built on precisely that strategy.

  ---

  At halftime, Gao Shen made his first substitution.

  Mertens repced Di Maria, who had been iive in the first half.

  The Argentine winger had struggled to adapt to the cold and was visibly sluggish, a sequence of his sleepless night.

  Mertens, in trast, had been in excellent form retly and could py on both fnks or even as a striker. Gao Shen hoped the Belgian would i energy into Napoli's attack.

  Early in the sed half, Mertens made an immediate impact. Receiving the ball he left sideline, he evaded Zenit's right-back with a quick dribble before being brought down by Tymoshchuk.

  Napoli earned a free ki a dangerous position, but the set piece failed to threate's goal.

  Spotting an opportunity, Napoli began to focus their attacks down the left fnk.

  Mertens soon found himself in a one-ouation after a long pass from the right. Dribbling past his marker, he delivered a precise pass to i ihe penalty area.

  i trolled the ball, turned, and shot—but the effort went straight into the goalkeeper's arms.

  The freezing ditions seemed to sap the sharpness out of Napoli's pyers. The eeam struggled to find their rhythm, and Gao Shen could only work with what he had.

  Ih minute, he made another substitution, bringing on Pastore flia. The typically reliable midfielder had also underperformed, further hampered by the cold.

  Advocaat responded aggressively. Despite leading 1-0, the Dutch coach made two bold substitutions within five minutes, signaling his io secure victory.

  First, attag midfielder Alejandro Dominguez repced ter-back Krizanac, with Tymoshchuk dropping into defense.

  Then, striker Pavel Pogrebnyak came on for defensive midfielder Zyryanov, adding more firepower up front.

  Advocaat was clearly looking to finish off Napoli.

  In response, Gao Shen adjusted Napoli's shape, pulling Rakitic deeper while giving Pastore more freedom to roam. The adjustment made Napoli's formation resemble a 4-2-3-1, reinf their defeup.

  The tactical chess match betweewo coaches brought the game to a stalemate.

  ---

  Whetered the 80th minute, her side had created any signifit ces.

  Napoli's attack came from the left. Pastore drifted wide to bih Vargas, receiving the ball and advang toward the penalty area. As defenders closed in, he quickly passed to Mertehe sideline and darted into space.

  Mertens trolled the ball deftly, dribbled past his marker, and cut inside, drawi's midfielders toward him. Spotting Pastore in space, he pyed a quick pass.

  Standing just outside the penalty area, Pastore posed an immediate threat. Tymoshchuk rushed out to block him, leaving space behind.

  Reizing the gap, Mertens made a diagonal run into the box, arriving at the exact spot Tymoshchuk had vacated.

  Pastore, reading the py, delivered a perfect through ball.

  Mertens trolled it with his right foot, feio shoot, then calmly switched to his left, slotting the ball past the goalkeeper and into the far er.

  "Gooooooaaaaal!!!"

  "In the 83rd minute, Napoli's two substitutes bio break Zenit's defe's 1-1!"

  "What a moment for Mertens and Pastao Shen's substitutions have finally paid off."

  "sidering the adverse ditions Napoli faced, seg this equalizer through tactical adjustments and sheer perseverance is a remarkable achievement."

  "Everyone knows how difficult it is to py an away game in Russia during winter!"

  ---

  With less than ten minutes remaining, including stoppage time, Gao Shen made further adjustments to tighten Napoli's defense.

  Zenit, unwilling to settle for a draw, unched a final wave of attacks. Advocaat even brought on ariker to bolster their offense.

  Napoli, however, retreated and defended as a unit.

  The game ended 1-1.

  Despite the poor ditions and a challenging performanapoli had mao secure a hard-fought point in a notoriously difficult away fixture.

  After the match, Gao Shen addressed his pyers in the locker room.

  "Once we're bae, we'll make sure we avehis result!"

  The pyers roared in agreement, their resolve matg Gao Shen's determination.